As long as the property grows in equity through increasing market or renovations. 

I'm reasonably certain you can do that as long as you're an occupant and it's under 5 units.

Does the complex/landlord need to be aware that this is happening or is it like "as long as the bill gets paid and we don't have liability, we don't care" type situation?

Like a lot of people on this site I was drawn to multifamily house hacking because it allowed for the purchase of a multi family property with very favorable financing options (3-5% down) as long as you occupied one of the units as your primary residence.After speaking with multiple lenders they are all telling me that this is only through the Freddie Mac Home Possible program which has an income cap that I, unfortunately, do not meet.

As long as you have a good lender and contractor, you should be okay.

Part of this is that someone told the PO that she should use the ultra low resistance HVAC filters as long as they're replaced monthly, which meant that there was dust build up on weird places.

The monthly pmts come from the rent, that's not a cost to you as long as you have positive cash flow. 

I believe you will be fine as long as it is w2 income they will want you to verify tax returns from previous years and pay stubs but all should be good. 

Hey @Tri Nguyen, going outside your comfort zone is scary but as long as you have done a great job of analyzing the property and had everything inspected, there won't be any issues. 

As long as rents are market rates, for a 10-year tenants I'll deal with this consequence!